Jason Aldean’s ‘Night Train’ Almost Slipped Past Him

The 'Night Train' almost roared past Jason Aldean. The singer found the title-track of his latest smash album by sheer accident. The 'Night Train' pulled into the station at a moment when Aldean wasn't even ready to board. Heck, he didn't even buy a ticket. But as fate would have it, the song found him.

"I wasn’t even looking for songs for my record when I came across it,” Aldean told Country Weekly about how he discovered the song in serendipitous fashion.

"I was helping produce another artist, Kristy Lee Cook on Broken Bow [Records], and we were looking to find some songs for her record," Aldean remembered. "I called [songwriter] Neil [Thrasher] to see if he had anything in mind, and one of the songs he sent over was 'Night Train.' I thought it was a hit, but she didn’t feel like it was her thing ... but hell, the more I listened to it, I thought it was my thing."

It's a good think the former 'American Idol' singer said "No thanks," as the track has become a hit for Aldean. "There are always going to be songs that work for me and aren’t going to work for someone else," he acknowledged. "I guess I was just lucky she passed on it and I held on to it for me." It's not the first time it's happened. 'Big Green Tractor' was originally pitched to Jake Owen.

It helps that Aldean knows how to sniff out a hit. The song ended up being the fourth single from his fifth album. This was one train he was meant to ride.